Vehicle with water supply and cooling system

ABSTRACT

A vehicle includes a water supply system for water consumers and a cooling system having a drain line for draining condensate water precipitated during operation of the cooling system. The drain line of the cooling system is connected to at least one water consumer.

The invention relates to a vehicle, in particular a rail vehicle havinga water supply system for water consumers and having a cooling systemwhich has a drainage line for draining condensed water formed during theoperation of the cooling system.

Water supply systems which are not connected to the public water supplygenerally carry limited quantities of water for operation. For thispurpose, there is generally a tank installed in which the water isstored, i.e. a water storage tank. This is the case, for example, innon-stationary systems, such as vehicles of all kinds (trains, aircraft,ships . . . ). Via pipes, the water storage tank typically supplies aplurality of consumers, such as a WC, a washbasin, an appliance forpreparing food, a dishwasher etc., with water. The water must be toppedup at regular intervals to ensure that it is continuously available toall the consumers.

An air-conditioning system for regulating the ambient conditions or someother cooling system is often installed particularly in vehicles. Duringthe operation of the cooling system, condensed water is formed and mustbe removed from the system. In rail vehicles, for example, the condensedwater has hitherto been conveyed to the outside via a separate pipe,also referred to as an overflow line.

In vehicles, especially rail vehicles, there is the general object, inrespect of a continuous supply of water to all the water consumers, ofreducing the fresh water requirement for topping up the water storagetank.

This object is achieved in the vehicle mentioned at the outset byconnecting the drainage line of the cooling system to at least one waterconsumer.

This has the advantage that the requirement for topping up the waterstorage tank with fresh water is reduced because the condensed waterthat forms in the cooling system can be used to supply the at least onewater consumer.

By including the condensed water in the water supply for the at leastone consumer, the quantity of water carried on the vehicle can bereduced, thus also making it possible to save on installation space forthe water storage tank. It is namely possible to reduce the dimensionsthereof. It may also be possible to save on pipes.

By virtue of the inclusion of the condensed water in the water supplyfor the at least one consumer, the existing quantity of water in thewater storage tank lasts longer and the availability of the system isincreased.

The quantity of condensed water formed is heavily dependent on thesystem under consideration. Fundamentally, condensed water only forms inthe cooling system when the latter is switched on and, specifically inthe case of an air conditioning system, is running in the cooling mode.The warmer the air supplied from outside, the more it must be cooled,resulting in the formation of more condensed water. The quantity ofcondensed water formed also depends on the relative air humidity of theair supplied. In the case of a high air humidity, more water is removedfrom the air during cooling. Calculation of the dew point is importantfor this purpose. In rail operations, the number of passengers in acompartment supplied by the air conditioning system is important becauseeach individual person gives off heat and water.

In one embodiment of the invention, the drainage line of the coolingsystem can be connected indirectly to the at least one consumer. Anintermediate tank, which serves to collect condensed water, can then beinstalled in the drainage line of the cooling system.

By providing the intermediate tank, it is possible to divide up waterstorage tanks, thus making it possible to supply the at least oneconsumer—typically a plurality of consumers will always be present—bothfrom the intermediate tank and from the water storage tank belonging tothe water supply system.

The intermediate tank can be connected directly to the at least oneconsumer. It is also possible for the at least one consumer to beconnected both to the intermediate tank and also additionally to thewater storage tank of the water supply system.

The intermediate tank can be connected via a line to a water storagetank of the water supply system, which tank is connected via a furtherline to the at least one consumer. In this embodiment, the consumer isalways supplied with water via the water storage tank.

As an alternative, it is also possible for the intermediate tank to beconnected both to the water storage tank of the water supply system andto the at least one consumer.

In another embodiment, a branch of the drainage line of the coolingsystem can be connected directly to a water storage tank of the watersupply system. In this case, there is no intermediate tank.

It is likewise possible for the at least one consumer to be suppliedwith water exclusively via the drainage line of the cooling system. Ofcourse, this presupposes the formation of sufficient condensed water forthe consumer concerned in the cooling system.

The drainage line of the cooling system can also be connected directlyto the at least one consumer.

In another embodiment, the intermediate tank and a water storage tank ofthe water supply system can be connected by associated lines to form acirculation system in which water can be delivered by means of at leastone pump.

Illustrative embodiments of the invention are explained in greaterdetail below with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a water supply system incombination with a cooling system in a first embodiment,

FIG. 2 shows a schematic block diagram of a water supply system incombination with a cooling system in a second embodiment,

FIG. 3 shows a schematic block diagram of a water supply system incombination with a cooling system in a third embodiment,

FIG. 4 shows a schematic block diagram of a water supply system incombination with a cooling system in a fourth embodiment,

FIG. 5 shows a schematic block diagram of a water supply system incombination with a cooling system in a fifth embodiment,

FIG. 6 shows a schematic block diagram of a water supply system incombination with a cooling system in a sixth embodiment, and

FIG. 7 shows a schematic block diagram of a water supply system incombination with a cooling system in a seventh embodiment.

The embodiments, illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 7, of a combination of awater supply system and a cooling system 1 can be employed in mobilesystems of all kinds, and special mention may be made of vehicles,especially rail vehicles. Identical reference signs indicatefunctionally identical components.

In the embodiment according to FIG. 1, a cooling system 1 is connectedvia an overflow line 7 to an intermediate tank 2 for collectingcondensed water. The overflow line 7 continues downstream of theintermediate tank 2. The intermediate tank 2 is also fitted with anoverflow line 6, thus preventing the water backing up into the coolingsystem 1. That is to say, if the intermediate tank 2 is completelyfilled and no water is required or removed by consumers 4, 5, theadditional condensed water flowing from the cooling system 1 flowsthrough said overflow line 6 into the extension of overflow line 7 belowthe intermediate tank 2 and thus leaves the system.

The intermediate tank 2 is connected to the water supply system via apipe 10. In the illustrative embodiment under consideration, the pipe 10opens into a feed line 8, which is arranged between a water storage tank3 of the water supply system and consumer 5. In this way, consumer 5 canbe supplied with water both via the intermediate tank 2 and via thewater storage tank 3. Consumer 5 differs from consumer 4 in that theformer does not necessarily require fresh water and can thus also beoperated with condensed water from the cooling system 1.

In contrast, consumer 4 is connected via a pipe 9 exclusively to thewater storage tank 3, which contains fresh water. An overflow feed line12 is provided for the water storage tank 3.

In the embodiment illustrated by means of FIG. 1, it is possible to keepconsumer 4 and the feed line 9 thereof separate from the water of thecooling system 1. In contrast, it is possible, in the case of consumer5, which requires a lower water quality, to supply it with water fromthe intermediate tank 2 via pipe 10 until said tank is completely empty.The water requirement of consumer 5 can then once again be metexclusively via pipe 8 from the water storage tank 3 of the water supplysystem.

In a variant of the embodiment according to FIG. 1, pipe 10 can also beconnected directly to consumer 5.

The embodiment illustrated by means of FIG. 2 differs from thataccording to FIG. 1 in that the intermediate tank 2 and its associatedcomponents are absent. Condensed water stemming from the cooling system,which is in the form of an air conditioning system or a cold store forexample, is fed directly, via a pipe 11 starting from the overflow line7, to the water storage tank 3 from which the consumers 4, 5 are thensupplied with water. When the water storage tank 3 is full, thecondensed water that continues to form in the cooling system 1 flows offvia the overflow line 7 of the cooling system 1 or, alternatively, viathe overflow line 12 of the water storage tank.

In the illustrative embodiment shown, the water storage tank 3 retainsits separate overflow line. However, it is also possible to dispensewith one of the two overflow lines 7, 12. Moreover, the overflow line 7of the cooling system 1 need not necessarily be connected to theconnecting line 11. On the contrary, direct connection of overflow line7 to the cooling system 1 is also possible.

The embodiment according to FIG. 3 largely corresponds to that accordingto FIG. 1. The only difference is that the pipe 10 in FIG. 1 is replacedby a pipe 13, which now opens directly into the water storage tank 3.

In this embodiment, the water storage tank 3 is not suppliedcontinuously with water. On the contrary, it is possible to pump waterbetween the intermediate tank 2 and the water storage tank 3 when a) theintermediate tank 2 is full, so that water would escape through theoverflow 6, or b) the water storage tank 3 is empty or reaches a lowfilling level. In this way, it is possible at any time or when requiredto divert the water into the water storage tank 3 from the intermediatetank 2.

This can be operated on the principle of communicating tanks, accordingto which the tanks are at the same level and the water pressureequalizes the liquid level in the tanks. This is possible when the tanks2, 3 are at the same height or circulation is effected by means ofpumps. In this case, it is also possible to dispense with one of the twooverflow lines 6, 12, provided it is ensured that no water can flow backinto the cooling system 1.

The consumers 4, 5 are supplied with water exclusively from the waterstorage tank 3.

In the embodiment illustrated by means of FIG. 4, the intermediate tank2 is once again connected to the water storage tank 3 via a connectingline 14. In this way, the water level in the tanks 2, 3 can be equalizedat any time. Each of the two tanks 2, 3 has a dedicated overflow line 6,12.

In the embodiment according to FIG. 4, the supply line 8 for consumer 5is connected directly to the intermediate tank 2 and is supplied only bythe latter. Consumer 4 is likewise supplied exclusively by water tank 3via supply line 9.

The embodiment illustrated by means of FIG. 5 is distinguished by thefact that consumer 5 no longer has any connection to the water storagetank 3. Consumer 5 is supplied with water exclusively from theintermediate tank 2 via pipe 8. In this case, consumer 5 does notreceive any water when no water is formed in the cooling system 1.

Consumer 4 receives water exclusively from the water storage tank 3.

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment in which the intermediate tank 2 isdispensed with. Moreover, there is no connecting line between thecooling system 1 and the water supply system. On the contrary, consumer5 is supplied with water exclusively via pipe 8, which is connecteddirectly to overflow line 7. In contrast, the water supply for consumer4 takes place exclusively by means of the water storage tank 3 via pipe9.

The embodiment illustrated by means of FIG. 7 starts from that accordingto FIG. 3 inasmuch as all the pipes provided in the embodiment accordingto FIG. 3 are also present in the embodiment according to FIG. 7.

In FIG. 7, there is one extra pipe 15, which connects the intermediatetank 2 to the water storage tank 3 in such a way that the intermediatetank 2, pipe 13, the water storage tank 3 and pipe 15 form a circuit,and it is therefore possible to refer to pipes 13, 15 as circulationlines. With the aid of pumps that are provided, it is possible to pumpthe water continuously in a circuit between the tanks 2, 3. The water ineach line then only has to be pumped in one direction in order toestablish an equilibrium.

Although the consumers 4, 5 are connected to the water storage tank 3via pipes 8, 9 in the figure, it is also conceivable to connect theconsumers 4, 5 to the intermediate tank 2 or to pipes 13, 15.

In a variant, it is also possible to dispense with one of the twooverflow lines 6, 12 since there is no absolute necessity for twooverflow lines.

1-11. (canceled)
 12. A vehicle, comprising: water consumers; a watersupply system for said water consumers; and a cooling system having adrainage line for draining condensed water formed during operation ofsaid cooling system; said drainage line of said cooling system connectedto at least one of said water consumers.
 13. The vehicle according toclaim 12, wherein said drainage line of said cooling system (1) isconnected indirectly to at least one of said consumers.
 14. The vehicleaccording to claim 13, which further comprises an intermediate tankinstalled in said drainage line of said cooling system and configured tocollect condensed water.
 15. The vehicle according to claim 14, whereinsaid intermediate tank is connected directly to at least one of saidconsumers.
 16. The vehicle according to claim 15, wherein said watersupply system has a water storage tank additionally connected to atleast one of said consumers.
 17. The vehicle according to claim 14,wherein said water supply system has a water storage tank, a line isconnected from said intermediate tank to said water storage tank and afurther line is connected from said water storage tank to at least oneof said consumers.
 18. The vehicle according to claim 14, wherein saidwater supply system has a water storage tank, and said intermediate tankis connected to said water storage tank and to at least one of saidconsumers.
 19. The vehicle according to claim 13, wherein said watersupply system has a water storage tank, and said drainage line of saidcooling system has a branch connected directly to said water storagetank of said water supply system.
 20. The vehicle according to claim 14,wherein at least one of said consumers is supplied with waterexclusively by said drainage line of said cooling system.
 21. Thevehicle according to claim 12, wherein said drainage line of saidcooling system is connected directly to at least one of said consumers.22. The vehicle according to claim 14, wherein said water supply systemhas a water storage tank, and associated lines are connected to saidintermediate tank and to said water storage tank to form a circulationsystem having at least one pump configured to deliver water.